Court allows closer look at Parker deals

Creditors in oilman Roger Parker’s bankruptcy want a closer look at deals he made selling some of his assets in and around the time he filed to reorganize his debts, largely because of revelations that one of the buyers was his live-in-girlfriend-now-wife.

The creditors committee in Parker’s personal bankruptcy — led by Kirk Kerkorian-owned Tracinda Corp. — wants to take testimony from eight different entities that bought interests in Parker-owned assets. The testimony, called a 2004 examination, is a detailed audit of transactions designed to see if there was anything curious about the deals.

A bankruptcy judge approved the exams of all eight, which could make for some interesting reading later on when the results of those inquiries is made public. The exams, much like a deposition, are not public.

Parker, 52, is the former CEO of Delta Petroleum whose alleged insider dealing netted a felony conviction for former insurance exec Michael Van Gilder, Parker’s long-time friend and business associate. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued the pair — though Van Gilder was charged criminally as well — for illegal insider trading connected to Kerkorian’s $684 million buy-in to Delta on New Year’s Day 2008.

Parker filed for bankruptcy just as the investigation was coming to a close. Just before, though, it appears he sold some of his asset interests that creditors now want to have a closer look. That’s because one of the deals, to a company called Ruxece, raised eyebrows.

Ruxece, it turns out, is managed by Erin Wallace, Parker’s now-wife who, at the time, was his girlfriend and ex-wife of Parker’s former business partner at Delta, John Wallace.

Ruxece bought Parker’s treasured membership in the exclusive Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale, a non-transferable membership that brought him about $100,000 cash. Where that cash came from, however, is what creditors now want to know and they’ve asked to have a peek. Too, Ruxece purchased Paker’s interest in Northern Flights Ranch in November 2012, just before filing to bankruptcy.

Following disclosure of his relationship to Wallace, whom Parker initially described in court only as a “close personal friend,” creditors now want to have a look at other deals:
— Sale of about 62% in Apex Operating Co. to its owners.
— Sale of his interest in Bear Dance to its owners.
— Sale of additonal interest in Apex to Steelhorse.
— Sale of his working interest in a church oil field to JPFP.
— Sale of his interest in Sunstone Beverly Hills to its owners.
— Sale of about 1% of assets to Labyrinth Energy.
— Sale of Mile High Flea Market to MBH Investments.

Who or what the businesses are is unclear, but court papers might eventually shed some additional light.

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.